This invention relates to the desuperheating of a gas by injection of its liquid phase from multiple locations in a plate type of desuperheater.
The most common application is water injection into steam, which is used hereafter only for illustration. Generally, the purpose of steam conditioning is to produce steam that is conditioned, or desuperheated, to a level that allows the steam to be used in a process requiring steam of a particular pressure or temperature, or that allows the steam to bypass the system process, for example.
There are many devices that have been developed to condition steam, based on the concepts of reducing pressure by restricting the passage of steam, and reducing steam enthalpy by introducing water into the steam flow. In some cases the functions have been combined in a single device, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,221, where a pressure-reducing valve includes means for injecting cooling water into the hot steam in the valve.
There is continuing need for pressure reducing desuperheating devices that are simple and inexpensive to manufacture and operate, and that perform efficiently and reliably. This invention provides such a device.